Barcelona have named former defender Juliano Belletti as the new manager of their B side, Barca Atletic, for the upcoming season. The Brazilian has been given the tough task of getting the affiliate side promoted after a disappointing season.
Belletti is most famed for scoring the winner for Barcelona in the 2006 Champions League final against Arsenal during his three-year spell at the club. He left in 2007, joining Chelsea, then Fluminense and Ceara before his retirement, in 2011. Now aged 48, Belletti is making progress as a manager.
Belletti’s return to Barcelona
He returned to the club in 2023 as an assistant for the under-19 staff. Belletti, would then spend six months alongside Rafael Marquez as an assistant in 2024, and last summer took over the under-19 side as the head coach. Now he makes his return to Barca Atletic as the main man, having previously held roles in the youth setup at Sao Paulo and Cruzeiro.
The former had reportedly sounded him out for a head coaching role, but nothing came of it, and now Belletti has a one-year contract with Barca Atletic. This season with the under-19 side, Belletti lifted the treble, including the UEFA Youth League.
Barca Atletic coming off relegation
Things were much less rosy for Barca Atletic, who last season were in the play-offs. After Marquez’s exit, Albert Sanchez took over, but struggled for most of the season. With two months to go, things improved under Sergi Mila, but he could not save them from relegation on the final day of the season. It marks a descent into the fourth tier of Spanish football for the first time since 2008, when Pep Guardiola won them promotion back to Segunda B.
Flick: "Lamine Yamal is a genius. But I think we have to help him because he is young, and now everything seems easy, but it is not easy. If you want to play at that level for the next 15 years, you also have to train and work very hard; you have to be at the top level mentally…
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) May 30, 2025
That was their only dabble so low down the pyramid in Spanish football since 1974, four years after the team was founded. Mila is set to move into a directorial role at La Masia.
This is such an important appointment. The accelerated (and deserved) promotions to the first team by the top youngsters created a bit of a talent drain on Barca Athletic, or they’d probably be competing at a much higher level. Moving back up as quickly as possible is imperative for player development, and equally as importantly, retaining the top academy talents. A treble-winning coach that knows the Barca way and has familiarity with many of the younger players is a good start.